vīgintī trēs
by bynightawriter
Summary: She's half of a person and he shouldn't exist, but somehow they manage to fit. Two jagged pieces completing the puzzle that is their life. Or, how The Evil Queen and Robin of Locksley came to be. Oneshot.


"I can't stay here."

It's been three days, three days in the Wish Realm, and every single day, hour, second, her life has been threatened. She's been chased through villages and forest, angry villagers demanding justice for their fallen king and queen, her own son heading the charge.

She could have killed them. She thought about it, it would be so easy, just a flick of her wrist and all those pesky little peasants would be dead along with their precious monarchs.

But she didn't.

Not only because she promised Regina, promised Henry that she would try her very best to be a better person, but because she _wanted_ to be a better person, not just for them, but for herself. And being a better person meant not killing people whenever you wanted to.

So, she has to leave. And she wants him to come with her.

It's been three days, 72 hours, she shouldn't feel as deeply for him as she does. It's not love (not yet), she knows that, but it's… it's _something_. At first she thought that it was the sex, that she was simply infatuated with his cock and his tongue and his body (and she _is_ infatuated with it), but she found that it truly was more than that.

She cares about him. Not the face, not the name, but _him_.

He was different than Robin Hood. It wasn't just the physical changes like his hair (she wondered if he was younger than the Robin she knew before), he was more rugged (and she didn't think that was possible), rougher around the edges, he was darker. She loved Robin Hood, she truly did, and she was sure that part of her would alway love that version of him.

But this (whatever _this_ is) with Robin of Locksley, she cherishes it with her life.

And she's so scared that he doesn't feel the same, so bring up this topic of leaving makes her nervous, though she will never let it show. She tells him the nonchalantly while they sip warm ale ("Warm apple cider" she told him, and he had taken the drink with a raised brow that soon left once he took a sip) from mugs, a hearty fire heating the area around them. Winter in the Enchanted Forest is hard, cold biting at the apple of her cheeks, the tip of her nose, and the top of her ears, so she huddles a bit closer to him, for body heat.

Robin nods, bring the mu up to his lips as he says, "We'll move on soon. Perhaps when the sun rises a bit more, warm us up a little bit."

"No i-I can't stay _here_ ," the queen opens her arms and waving them around. "In this realm. I'm literally being hunted by my own son. I can't stay here."

Robin looks like he wants to say something, his lip pursing for a moment before he shrugs. "So where do you want to go?"

She shrugs her shoulders and says as nonchalantly as she can. "I was thinking… the Enchanted Forest."

Confusion paints itself all over Robin's features as his head cocks to the side. "Um correct me if I'm wrong sweetheart, but aren't we _in_ the Enchanted Forest?"

" _My_ version of the Enchanted Forest," the queen explains. It's all so confusing, different versions of place and people. But, "There I won't be chased with pitchforks and flaming torches."

She watches as Robin purses his lips for a moment, then his bottom lip goes between is lips and then, "That's where the other Robin is from isn't it? Robin Hood?"

She hasn't been looking at him, has been looking into the heart of the flames but at that moment she turns toward him and sees apprehension all over his features. She licks her lips before she nods slowly. "Yes. I know how you feel about him but-"

"That's where you want to go? To the other Enchanted Forest?" he interjects.

The question makes her words stop and she lets out a small scoff. "Doesn't matter what I want. The villagers, the'll end up killing me if I don't."

Robin nods, bring his mu up to his lips. "Okay."

"Okay?"she asks. She knows that this Robin is a man of few words, but what did that _okay_ mean? Was it okay, he would come with her? Was it okay, have fun in the Enchanted Forest, I'm going to stick around here? What the hell did _okay_ mean!?

But then, "I'm always up for a new adventure." comes out of his mouth and is followed by a smirk on his lips.

She feels giddy then; giddy at the idea that they actually might have a _true_ fresh start, and it makes he feel light and happy, something she hasn't felt in a very long time. She _likes_ him, she truly does, like his smirks and his dimples and his glinting blue eyes, likes his witty comebacks and terrible innuendos and she likes that he's willing to jump head first with her into what he calls a new adventure.

"Okay then. I know where we can get a magic bean, and then we'll be out of this place in no time." she tells him, already about just _how_ they would be getting the bean. Climbing that stalk would be hell, but she was sue they could do it.

"Milady?"

She had turned to look back into the fire, that's getting lower now, but she turns back to look at him. "Hm?"

"Just know…. I wouldn't ever let someone hurt you, if it ever came down to it."

She would make a witty joke, but she's taken aback by the sincerity and utter conviction in his eyes. There's no hesitation in her response, "I know."

/~/

They get to the Enchanted Forest easily.

Their land in the courtyard of her castle, fingers intertwined as they slowly sit up.

She gives him a grand tour, and after christening the palace _thoroughly_ , they lie in bed, and she worries that he won't like the castle, that he's so used to a life in the forest that this may be too different for him, but he takes to a bed and soft blankets easily and she berates herself for worrying, because who wouldn't?

Life in the castle works for them and for four days, things are pretty easy.

The fifth day they decide to go through with a plan of robbing a local lord (who knew that a _refined_ queen would be so partial to the ways of thieves?), that's when everything changes.

Because it seems that the Merry Men (now lead by Mulan) had the exact same plan.

They run into them outside of the manor. It as their plan for Regina to just poof them inside once they got close enough to scope out what room was what. But then there was a hissed _Robin_ , and their heads snapped to their left.

Regina knew she recognized that voice. Staring back at her is Little John, his eyes wide as he stares at the man beside her.

"Is this someone I should know?" Robin murmurs lowly, but she's sure if Little John was listening hard enough he could hear, he wasn't exactly whispering.

She opens her mouth to explain to Robin who this is, but suddenly Robin is moving in front of her, and she turns her head to see Little John looking at her… threateningly? Wow, where the hell did that come from?

"What the hell is this Regina? Some sort of sick joke!?"

How _exactly_ do you explain to someone that their best friend had a doppelganger in a different realm that was created by a wish you made, and that he wasn't exactly the man you remember? It was something _she_ understood, but not everyone had the IQ to understand such a thing.

Well, the queen doesn't have to do that this man is not Little John's Robin, because her outlaw does it for her, his chest puffing out as he growls, " _ **Don't**_ talk to her like that."

"Did you make some sort of clone!?" John continues, his chubby cheeks turning a angry red color.

" _No_!"

" **Back. Off**."

Her hand wraps around Robin's bicep, muttering a soft, "Calm down," before she turns her attention to Little John. "This isn't something we need to discuss right now."

"The _hell_ we don't-"

"John!"

She looks over the large man's shoulders to see a shorter, bald man approaching them. Tuck. His eyes are on Little John, his brow furrowed as confusion paints his features.

"Where the hell was your signal- Robin?"

His eyes are wide, and she feels Robin tense even more than she thought was possible.

"That's not Robin," Little John hisses, his eyes not leaving the couple.

Little John clearly isn't open to listening, so the queen turns her attention towards Friar Tuck. "I can explain. But not now and not here. We can come to your camp and-"

" _No_. Not the camp," John interjects. "Roland is there."

Roland. She feels terrible for not thinking of him, she wonders how big he's gotten (it hasn't been _too_ long since she last saw him, going on a month now, but still, kids grow every single day and she has missed _a lot_ of days), and oh god, how are they going to explain this to Roland?

"Then on the way to camp." she suggests, and ten there's a silent conversation between the two Merry Men before Tuck nods.

"Alright, just… just let me go explain this to the others," he says before he mumbles under his breath, "As best I can anyway."

She watches as the friar walks off, and Little John glowers at her and Robin before turning his back to them.

"Who are they?" Robin asks her lowly.

She shrugs one shoulder as she replies, "They're Robin Hood's family."

Explaining to the Merry Men what's happened is, well, it's harder than she expected it to be. They stare at her and Robin like they're crazy, and then like they're strangers (and they are, this Robin and _this_ version of herself too really), and then there's a million questions as to just _how_ this happened and how they could get _their_ Robin back.

"Maybe it's like that disease that some of the elders get ye?" one suggests. "And we-we just got to make him remember"

"Maybe a piece of Robin soul is in him and we just got to wake him up!" another suggests.

Soon there's suggestion after suggestion being thrown around about how to make Robin _him_ , and she can practically feel the anger radiating off of him in waves. He's not very good at concealing his emotions, Robin of Locksley.

She decides then that it's time for them to go, tells the Merry Men as much, one hand intertwined in his and the other rising to flick and take them back to her castle when Tuck moves to stand in front of them, holding out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Robin of Locksley."

The moment almost makes the queen smile, the corners of her mouth twitching, her grip on the outlaw's hand tightening and releasing as Robin gives the friar a weak handshake. Tuck then turns his attention towards her, bowing his head a uttering a soft, "Your majesty."

She allows a small smile to form on her lips as she nods before she flicks wrist, purple smoke surrounding them.

He's quiet when they get to the castle.

Actually he's quiet the rest of the night. She's taking her time pulling pins from her hair, watching him through the mirror as he places his quiver on his side of her bed (they've become very domestic, and it's something she finds she truly likes. She's never had this before, domesticity with a lover before. The closest she's ever had to that before was with Mal, but you know, she had a curse to cast and that was ruined). She waits until the very last pin is removed from her hair and her hand is wrapped around of the brush before she asks, "Are you going to mope all night or do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

(who would have thought that _she_ would be the one asking her partner to open up in a relationship?)

Robin takes a sharp breath. "Did you know they were here?"

She doesn't have to ask who 'they' are, she knows that he's talking about the Merry Men. The queen shrugs a shoulder. "Last I heard they went to Camelot, but it's not surprising that they made their way here. This is their home."

"This is not why I came here Regina," he mutters, a hand running over the back of his neck. "I didn't come here so… so I could become some faux version of Robin Hood."

"I _know_ that."

She does, and she finds it frustrating that he doesn't believe that she knows that.

"That's what they want me to be. They were literally talking about ways to make me _him_."

The regal sighs, picking up her brush and running it through her hair. "That has nothing to do with me Robin. And I'm sure they'll get over that idea eventually."

He doesn't respond, and she won't push him to talk anymore, just finishes brushing her hair and slips into a black slip for bed. The outlaw is already under the covers, his back towards her, and when she lays in bed, though there's perhaps a foot of space between them, she feels as if he's never been farther from her.

/~/

He's gone when she wakes up.

She doesn't think too much of it. He needs his space, he had a bad day yesterday. So she goes about her day as usual, spends some time tending to the little seedling that she planted when they got to the Enchanted Forest, and she reads, and she practices some new spells just for the hell of it.

She's going to her cabinet full of magical ingredients when she hears the telltale sound of his boot against the marble floor. She doesn't turn to face him, just opens her mouth to say, "I hope you're over your little temper tan-"

She doesn't get to finish her statement, because she's being turned her, her eyes wide, and she opens her mouth to say something like _what the hell is wrong with you_ , but she can't even get a syllable out before his mouth is on hers.

He's never kissed her like this before. He's kissed her with the same eagerness, but there's something… a sort of reverence, one that she would feel with the _other_ Robin, the one that would make her feel light, and it feels familiar but at the same time brand new and wonderful.

Sex between them up until this point could be classified as one thing; fucking. It was sloppy tongue filled, rough fucking that included scars down his back and on her hips, and sometimes a bruise around her neck from where his hand would wrap around it (not that she _ever_ minded any of that). But that's not what they're doing now. It's different, somehow softer, and their paces don't really match, her aggressive grinding and slow movements, it's just… different somehow.

Not a bad different, not at all, but it was… it was _different_.

He takes his time, and nothing she can do, not the rocking of her hips nor the her breathy pleas (not that she will _ever_ admit that's what they are), they fail. But he still gets her there, with his tongue and his cock, has her dangling over that precipice before she finally, _finally_ , falls, shouting his name with trembling thighs and an unsteady heart.

He keeps mumbling things in her ear, how he loves _this_ with her, loves how she says his name, how he loves _everything_ with her so much, and kisses her with an almost pure passion, and that's when it clicks just why this is different. They're not fucking, he's not simply fucking her, he's _loving_ her.

He's making love to her.

The simple realization makes her come again with a soft cry and tears in her eyes.

When he comes inside her, it's her name on his lips, and she feels the overwhelming urge to kiss him again. So she does, because she can.

He pulls out a moment later, and she misses him instantly, has to bite back the urge to whine at the emptiness she feels. He lies beside her, and there's a space between them, one that she wants to get rid of. They never have before, but she finds that she wants his arms wrapped around her, wants to lay her head on his sweaty chest. She's never been a cuddler, usually like her space and a lot of it, but right now, she's craving some intimacy. But she won't ask, won't beg him to wrap his arms around her like some clingy girlfriend (is that what she is to him? They're lovers, sure, but is this… _dating_? Did _she_ even want to classify what they had as _simply_ dating?). She simply enjoys the way that his hand feels against her belly, his thumb stroking up and down absentmindedly. Only then does she notice how tired she is and her eyelids suddenly weigh a ton.

"I was going to leave."

And then her eyelids were as light as feathers.

She turns her head and finds that he's staring back at her. He looks guilty, his eyes moving from hers down to her neck. Her tongue darts out to wet her slightly dry lips, steadying herself before she asks, "Why didn't you?"

He's surprised. She can tell by the way his brow raises just slightly and his eyes widen just the _tiniest_ bit. She wonders if he is surprised she's asking that question, or if she's surprised that she's not upset.

She watches as he looks down to where his hand is on her belly, then he draws it up, up, up, to her breast, making hr shiver because she's sensitive _everywhere_ , before he moves up, up, up, to the nape of her neck, playing with a strand of hair (she's sure the elaborate updo she had done that morning is thoroughly ruined, not that she can find an ounce of care). His hand moves to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking her skin.

"We both know why," is what he says. _I couldn't leave you_ is what she hears, and it makes the urge to cuddle with him even stronger.

She wonders if he can read her mind, because he's shifting until they're a bit closer, mumbling a soft "C'mere," and they shift, Robin laying on his back and her on his chest, just like she wanted. She inhales deeply, and she catches a whiff of his scent, and it makes her smile.

He smells like forest, but it's a different kind of forest she supposes. Robin Hood had smelled of fresh pine and campfire, his forest smell was oddly clean. But the man beneath her smells like the grass after a fresh rain, like dirt, and a bit like hay.

The smell, the _thudthudthud_ of his heart, and the feeling of his hand in her hair, has her falling into one of the best sleeps she's had in a very long time.

/~/

Nine days after arriving in the Enchanted Forest, they go to the Merry Men's camp ad they see Roland for the first time in what feels like forever (the first time period for Robin).

Seeing Roland again was… well it was everything.

He was cautious with Robin (she wonders what the men told him), but he launches himself at her, burying his head in her neck and prattling on about how much he missed her, making her promise not to stop going away for so long (they didn't even get much time together in Storybrooke, Roland and Regina). It's a promise she shouldn't make but she does anyway, and will try hr damndest to keep.

Roland stays glued to her side the entire time they're there. Shows her his his two missing teeth (the gap has him lisping some of his words and it's truly adorable) and tells her how Little John is fashioning a bow _just_ like his Papa's for him.

She is ever the interested listener, pretending that she doesn't see him peering over her shoulder to look at the man that looks so much like his father but isn't. Robin tries, she has to give him credit. He gives Roland stilted waves and tight smiles, but every time he does Roland ducks away.

"I never pictured myself being a father." Robin says later that night, his hand playing with the ends of her hair, his head pillowed on her chest. "But you're good with him. Great with him."

There's a smirk on her lips that he can't see and even if he did, wouldn't understand when she says, "Yes well. I have a soft spot for children." Her hand moves through his hair (she likes his hair, thinks that it's an outward representation of the differences between the two Robins. The darker hair equals a darker soul). "And Roland will get used to you," she says after a moment of silence. "His father died. He went to his funeral. And then this man who looks like his father and sounds like his father but _isn't_ his father comes along. It's confusing."

He doesn't respond for a long moment, but when he does it's to ask, "Is it easy for you? To separate me and the other Robin?"

"Is it easy for you to separate me from the other Regina?" she counters.

His head lifts from her chest, turning to look at her, blue on brown. "It's not the same, you know that."

She does know it's different, he wasn't in love with the other Regina but, "You said before, that if she hadn't tried so hard to make you _him_ , you could see yourself falling in love with her."

"I could have." Robin confirms. "Perhaps if we had met differently, if she hadn't been in love with the other Robin, something could have happened. But we didn't meet a different way and she had been in love with him and frankly, I'm happy with the way things have turned out."

"Yeah?" she asks, her voice quiet. The idea that anyone would actually _prefer_ her to her good counterpart is foreign.

Robin nods. "Yeah."

She licks her bare lip, her teeth nibbling at her bottom lip before she admits, "I like how things turned out too."

He looks so surprised that it has her wanting to touch him, comfort him, and she reaches out and cups his cheek, his thumb moving over his stumble. "What about Robin Hood?" he asks after a moment.

She thinks to tell him that she felt like Robin Hood was for Regina, that though he loved them both, he could never understand him and he, Robin of Locksley, understood her more than they both knew. But she doesn't, instead tells him, "I loved him. I did, and nothing will ever change that. But... I like this. I _really_ like this."

Robin smirks, one hand moving to cup one of her breast as he presses his forehead to hers. "I like this too. I _really_ like this too."

/~/

They bond.

They bond with each other, and they bond with Roland.

Robin becomes his mentor of sorts, teaching him how to shoot hi miniature bow and arrow. Roland comes to the castle with Friar Tuck, and to her dismay (delight), they shoot arrows all over her castle. She's become immuned to the sound of them whizzing past her head.

The Merry Men start becoming more open to to the idea of Robin being around, of _this_ Robin being around. Well, all except John, who seems to have the hardest time, but she supposes it makes the most sense he was the closest to _him_.

But overall, things are _good_. Very good.

They've learned more about each other than just a physical level, and she finds herself... well, she finds herself falling in love with him, if she's honest. She's not surprised really, she just... she didn't expect it to be happen so soon. But it makes sense she supposes, she's allowing herself to be open to love, not pushing him away, soaking up every single moment of affection, every kiss, every lingering touch, and returns it in kind.

Fourteen days after they arrived in the Enchanted Forest and seventeen days after they've met, she tells him she loves him.

It's not because of a near death experience, nor is it midway through sex, but after a mission. They've made camp under the stars even though her castle isn't that far of a walk (and with a flick of her wrist, they could be there in seconds), sorting through the things that they'll pawn for gold to give to villages (she was shocked when Robin told her he wanted to do this, never thought he would because it was to reminiscent of _him_ , but she was proud of him, oh so proud), when she finds herself face to face with a necklace.

It's stunning, for lack of a better word.

It's dramatic and overstated and just perfect or her.

"Keep it."

Her eyes move from the necklace to him, and he's smirking knowingly. Her thumb strokes over it before she shakes her head. "No... I shouldn't."

"You want to," Robin says, moving closer to her. "And it would look amazing on you."

The queen turns to look at her, cocking his eyebrow up. "You think so?" she asks, amused that _she_ is the won with the moral high ground, letting the necklace slip from her fingers as the thief takes it from her.

"Mhm," he mumbles, moving her ponytail over her shoulder before placing the necklace around her neck and securing it. He presses a kiss to her neck, then another, before he sits beside her, takes her in and says, "Simply stunning."

She bites down on her bottom lip as her hand comes up to touch it. "You know, you shouldn't be encouraging me to keep it," she teases lightly, and Robin shrugs as he pulls her to lay against his chest. He's been unabashed about cuddling with her now, pulls her to him before they go to sleep when she doesn't immediately wrap herself around him, or just times like this, when they're just being _together_ , and he wants her closer.

She feels him press another kiss to her neck before he says, "We do a lot o good, why not keep one little necklace?" he says and she chuckles because the necklace resting against her chest is a lot of things but it's _not_ little. "Besides... you deserve more than that. You deserve the world, and if you can get a necklace out of all this here or there, then so be it."

She shifts in his hold, craning her neck and presses her lips to his because he's... he's _sweet_ and _good_ (even if he doesn't think so) and she never, ever has had someone who thought _she_ deserved the world. Her, the (not so) Evil Queen.

"What was that for?" Robin hums when she pulls away from his lips, his forehead pressed to hers.

They slip out, those three words.

She didn't mean to say them, but her mouth seems to have a brain of it's own. Her heart was pounding when it registers what she _just_ said, and she's frozen, and she thinks he is too, because he just stares at her and stares at her.

And then he smiles.

Kisses her like she's the last person on earth, like he's a man dying of thirst and she a cool well of water, and she does everything to return the intensity of that kiss.

He decorates her skin with kisses and those words, and she comes undone in a haystack, with tears in her eyes and a heart so full that she thinks it might burst in her chest.

(She thinks that he thinks she doesn't notice him pocket a few gold coins the next day at the pawn shop, but she does. But she loves and trust him, so she doesn't question it)

/~/

She's surprised to see her other half in _her_ home.

Pleasantly surprised but surprised nonetheless.

She learns that the world, _her_ world, is crashing down, large glooming, dark grey clouds slowly making their way towards her castle.

Robin is out of the castle, choose today of all days to go on some mission with Friar Tuck. Her heart is thudding hard in her chest, her stomach in knots, and her eyes move over the dwindling greenery. Roland is in the chambers he's made his own in the past couples days, sleeping like a rock, and she's so glad for it, doesn't know what she would do if both Robin and Roland where in this... whatever it is.

She tries to focus on her tasks, focuses on helping Regina getting home to _their_ son (she's missed him, it's been far too long since she's seen _her_ Henry). The clouds are getting closer, and she keeps hoping that maybe somehow, someway, Robin will beat the clouds and she can see him one last time before...

It doesn't matter, because he doesn't, and her Henry, her _son_ is risking his life, and Roland is still asleep in the castle bless his soul. She can keep them safe, somehow, she can keep them _both_ safe. And if she dies in the progress, so be it.

The last thing she thinks as magic is flowing through her palms (not from anger, but from _love_ , love for Robin, love from Roland, love from _Henry_ ), is that she is so damn glad she took Regina's advice, and didn't waste a second of her second chance.

/~/

When the smoke disappears, she smiles, because she knows what that means. They did it. _Regina_ did it. She made it back to Henry.

And Roland is safe, and judging by the look of things, Robin probably is too, and Regina is just so _relieved_ that you know, she passes out.

/~/

When she comes to, she's wrapped in blankets, and the sky is dark, a navy blue while the bright moon shines in contrast. Has she slept the day away? Perhaps this wasn't smart to do when she's sick (she had been slightly feverish that morning, had thrown up the small breakfast she had), using all that magic, but she had to do something.

It takes her a moment to notice the body pressed against her, because it's not the usually heavy arm that's wrapped around her midriff. The body is lighter, smaller, and when she shifts wild curls brush against her chin.

Roland.

She can only see the top of his head, and she presses her lips to it before she looks at the other side of the bed, where Robin is sleeping. His brow is furrowed, and he doesn't seem relaxed, which worries her a bit So as quietly as she can, she calls his name, not wanting to wake the boy on her chest. She only has to call his name twice before his eyes are shooting open, his hand is on her cheeks and his lips is pressing kisses to her forehead, her cheeks, before they land on her lips.

He mutters soft words that she barely catches, soft mutterings about how how worried he was, and he asks her what happened, if she needs anything, actually starts to get up to get her a glass of water, but she just smiles, grabs his arm and pulls him back towards her.

"I'm fine," she says softly, a smile on her lips before she amends and says, "I'm better than fine."

She tells him about Regina, about Henry, about how she had to protect them, protect the castle as best she can. "I must have just... overexerted myself." she says with a shrug. "But I'm perfectly fine, I promise."

Robin nods, chewing on his bottom for a moment before he admits, "I have never been so scared in my life. And my life has been at risk plenty of times, you being a couple of those reasons," they share a soft chuckle, and Robin inhales deeply before he says, "Don't scare me like that again. I can't lose you."

The weight of his words hit her hard, like an arrow to her chest. Her hand reaches for his, and she shifts just slightly, with Roland between them, to press her to his as she whispers her response:

"I wouldn't dream of it."

/~/

It's been two days since she caught a glimpse of _her_ son, since she saw her other half, since she fainted. Robin doesn't doesn't believe she's fine, since both the morning after and the morning after that, she had vomited up the small breakfast she had eaten. She waved him off and assured him that she was fine (because she did _feel_ fine afterwards) but he watched her like a hawk, making sure she got enough to eat and enough to drink, and that she got enough rest.

Which meant no sex.

She thought it was absolutely ridiculous, but part of her (the non horny part) thought that it was sweet that he was so concerned about her. It was completely and utterly unnecessary, but sweet nonetheless.

But she needed him, _now_ , and she was going to seduce the pants off him, quite literally.

She was wearing her blue velvet dress, neckline covered in jewels, form fitting, and while it doesn't have the tantalizing cleavage that he adores, it _is_ backless, and she knows as much as he loves her tits, he loves her ass.

She's waiting for her thief to get back from wherever he's gone off to. He was anxious when he left, said something about a very important mission, and it must have been for how jumpy he was, a light sheen of sweat covering his forehead before he even left. It had left her a little on edge, how nervous he was, because for as long as she has known him (granted it hadn't been _that_ long), he has _never_ been nervous.

But she knew he would return, because he always did, no matter what.

She hears the arrow first, here's the sound of it whizzing through the air before it pierces her vanity. She startles just a bit, but she almost doesn't turn around because she's so used to the sound, but there's something in the corner of her eye, something sparkling, glimmering, twinkling in the light.

A ring.

There's a ring attached to the arrow by string, parchment wrapped around it.

There's a ring.

Her heart has stopped and is racing all at the same time.

She doesn't even bother trying to take the arrow from her vanity, can't believe her hand is even steady because her heart sure isn't, it's knocking so hard against her chest that she's sure that it's either going to escape her ribcage and rupture somehow.

The ring is cool against the palm of her now hot and sweaty hand, her fingers unraveling the parchment.

 _Ready for a new adventure?_

She smiles. It's one of _those_ smiles, those wide, radiant ones that light up her face. One that she rarely shares with anyone but him.

He's there when she turns, leaning against her balcony with a faux air of calmness about him, she can tell he's nervous, he's eyes searching her features for a response.

"Well?"

She can't believe he doesn't know her answer already. She wants to laugh, because joy is flowing through her veins and bubbling in her belly, but she tamps it down for now, makes her way over to him slowly.

And she kisses him.

Kisses him him until her lips are swollen and bruised, her lipstick surely a mess, kisses him until her lungs burn, begging her for oxygen, and then she kisses him some more, until she's light headed and dizzy and has to pull away from him before she has another fainting spell.

"Always," she breathes, and Robin grins before he kisses her again. Breathing be damned, it seems.

 _I'm with you, always._

 _\- FIN -_

 _I wanted to write in the dark oq baby so bad, but given the short timeline I gave them (and that they had in the show tbh) it just didn't work out. She just couldn't be that far along to_ know _after only 23 days. It was alluded to though, if you guys caught it. Lol. But I hope you guys like it anyway!_


End file.
